The present invention relates to a mechanism for adjusting distance between armrests of office chair, and more particularly to an adjusting mechanism including a handle that can be turned to loosen two ratchet washers from each other and thereby allows a slide member connected to a lower end of an armrest to move relative to a base member screwed to a seat of the chair, enabling adjustment of the armrest to a desired position relative to another armrest.
Most of the currently available office chairs are provided with armrest-adjusting mechanisms, so that a user may adjust the armrests to the most comfortable vertical and/or horizontal positions relative to the seat of the chair. These adjusting mechanisms all are designed to increase the value of the chairs while they include different numbers of components, provide different functions, and are operated in different manners. It is desirable to develop a mechanism that has simple but novel structure to enable quick adjustment of a distance between armrests of an office chair through easy manipulation of a handle.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide a mechanism for adjusting distance between armrests of office chair. To achieve this and other objects, the mechanism mainly includes a manipulating handle, to which a slide member, a base member, and an upper and a lower ratchet washer are sequentially mounted from top to bottom. The two ratchet washers contact with each other either in a tight or a loose relation through control of the manipulating handle. The base member is screwed to an underside of a seat of the chair, and the slide member is slidable relative to the base member with an outer end connected to a lower end of one armrest. By turning the handle in one direction for the two ratchet washers to contact with each other in the loose relation, the slide member can be loosened from the base member and laterally adjusted to a desired position relative to the seat and thereby change the distance of a corresponding armrest relative to another armrest.